AMAZINGLY, well into 2024 – after the December festivities, months since the wine top-scored at the 2023 Veritas Awards to win the Duimpie Bayly Vertex Trophy – the Benguela Cove Cap Classique Joie De Vivre (Joy of Life) Brut 2019 was still available ex-cellar! With only the third edition of this bottle-fermented bubbly from Penny Streeter’s estate between Bot River and
Read moreTO WIN the trophy for top-scoring wine at the Veritas Awards is a fairly big deal! In 2023, there were 1247 entries (including spirits) in what is the biggest, longest-running SA wine competition. Of these, 81 were considered worthy of a double gold medal by panels of local and international judges, 70 in total, with double gold being the top
Read moreMORE OR LESS equidistant between Elgin and Caledon, the winelands of Bot River extend east of the Houw Hoek Pass and north of the villages Fisherhaven and Hawston on the outskirts of Hermanus – just over an hour and a half (about 90km) from Cape Town. The recommended restaurants on the wine route include those at Gabriëlskloof, Arcangelli and Wildekrans,
Read moreIT WAS JUST a matter of time, some would say. The Benguela Cove estate alongside the Bot River Lagoon on the road to Hermanus has been on many a wine lover’s radar since entrepreneur Penny Streeter and her family began investing in the area and particularly after cellarmaster Johann Fourie came on board five years ago. Their success at the
Read moreTHE SECOND annual Mosaic Top 5 Pinot Noir Wine Awards were contested by 42 producers who submitted 64 entries from various areas in South Africa, primarily from the Walker Bay district (24), Elgin (16) and Stellenbosch (6). Incredibly, four of the five winning producers in 2021 (see below) were among the previous winners in 2020, albeit with just a
Read moreCELEBRATING excellence and innovation, the ‘Great Wine Capitals’ Best Of Wine Tourism Awards recognise the top experiences on offer to those visiting the 11 greatest wine regions of the world, although, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, only six of the 11 regions participated in the 2020 contest. The participants this year comprised 200 entrants in the winelands surrounding Adelaide (Australia),
Read moreDUE TO lockdown restrictions imposed on local drinks industry players in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, announcing the 2020 Shiraz SA Challenge results was a sombre occasion conducted online without the winners in attendance. A virtually dry celebration! The judging, held over four days at Nederburg in Paarl, was chaired by Cape Wine Master Andy Roediger, with the panellists
Read moreSO PERHAPS you are going to be in Bot River in the Walker Bay district of the Cape South Coast for the Spring Weekend. Or maybe you’re just contemplating this area of South Africa’s winelands as they put out an extra welcome mat, step up the charm and make a bit more noise at this time of year. What to
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